Reader (academic rank)
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In the academic hierarchy in the United Kingdom and some universities in Australia and New Zealand, reader is the rank between senior lecturer (or principal lecturer in the New Universities) and Professor. The title of Reader may be given in recognition of research or scholarship, with high international reputation, as part of a promotion procedure of academic ranks.
Ambiguity in definition and incomparability with ranking systems in other countries, make the Reader position difficult to place. However, it clearly sits between Senior Lecturer, a British equivalent of Associate Professor, and Professor. As a Professor normal holds a Chair in a particular field, a Reader could be seen as professor without chair. (Similar to the distinction between Professor ordinarius and Professor extraordinarius at some European Universities.) In the United Kingdom, the promotion criteria applied to a Readership are similar to those applied to a Professorship.[1] [2] [3] [4]
In Australia, academic ranks are now labelled "Level A" (Associate Lecturer) through to "Level E" (Professor). "Level D" is Associate Professor, but in some universities the term "Reader" is used for some people promoted to this level if the promotion is essentially only on the basis of eminence in research, but this practice appears to be declining.
